Memorial of Saint Pius of Pietrelcina, Priest
I'm suspicious that Jesus never had to sneak around a sleeping child's bedroom. I've turned on many lights that I've then obscured to give me just enough light to see, but (hopefully) not so much that I disturb the sleeping children. And yet, I wonder if this reverse of Jesus' rhetorical situation might not shed some light on his point (pun fully intended).
Many of us may remember singing "Hide it under a bushel? No! I'm going to let it shine" as children or with children. We may see the way that Jesus asks this question as if there could be no other answer, and yet, I know I have been tempted to cover the light. The light in this instance could be the blessings bestowed by God, the joy of knowing Jesus, the realization that a prayer has been answered, or the confidence provided in knowing God's love. I think all of these can be light-giving and they are all things that we can obscure.
Our temptation to obscure the light comes with the culture in which we live. Between our pluralistic religious and philosophical landscape as well as the privatization of faith, we can become just like the parents sneaking through their kids' rooms with the obscured cell phone light. We don't want to disturb anyone.
Now, I'm not saying that we have to go around banging pots and pans. Jesus doesn't advise setting your neighbor's house on fire so that they can see, but he does warn against hiding the light. When people come into a relationship with us we should not be afraid of being identified as disciples of Jesus Christ.
If Jesus, the perfect person can be so unashamed of me that he would pour light, goodness, and love into my life, how can I hide his presence or be worried that someone might find out that I strive to be his disciple? May we today find an area that we are tempted to obscure our faith and allow ourselves to be a little more transparent (or should I say translucent) about it.
-Spencer Hargadon